HighOnLift

I replaced upper and lowers on my 96 XJ with Moogs. Torqued everything to specs, and upper looks like this:




There was nothing else like a sleeve or boot that came with them. I even went back to auto parts store thinking it was left out.... Is that gap normal?

Should I do anything about it?

Thanks for the help. Was my first time doing ball joints.

HighOnLift

And yes, that is a lug nut on my holding the tie rod end in... That castle nut was toast and stripped.... But that is for another discussion later lol.

2drx4

It's normal. It's a floating pin design.

Looks like you need to do your brakes.

And you can buy the castle nuts for TREs from a parts store... Might be time for a new TRE though, it will come with the nut (and cotter pin) too.

HighOnLift

Castle nuts are like $9.... I may as well just buy a new drag link for $40... right??? (comes with hardware)


Also I have quite a bit of pad left. Not going to debate the wear of the pads.... But $$$$$ doesn't grow on trees ya know. Also, that caliper was only on by one bolt, and kinda what started all this...

So you are most likely correct, but that is not going to stop me from taking her around the block once I get the new track bar installed. This isn't an everyday driver. Those pads have made it 7 years now.

I called O'reilly's and they said it should have came with a cap for a more snug fit... whatever that means. This is the 2nd upper I got from moogs, neither came with any additional caps. I'm guessing they are just guessing and don't really know. I mean everything feels good on it so far, but that is while it's still on stands. When I compare to the other ball joints that were factory, the space is the same as them, except they had the boot filled and touching knuckle.

I figured that the knuckle isn't supposed to rest on that boot. My main concern with that gap is rust etc...

It looks like this is pretty common for these ball joints. I can't believe I paid $120 for these, but needed to get them in on Saturday, and no one had spicers at a place I could drive and pick them up from. Lifetime warranty.... Like Chris Farley once said, I could crap in a box and put a warranty on it. Generally I see those and think, well it's built so cheap, that it's intended to fail, and they made out well enough to just keep giving you crap parts for life.

EDIT>>>> I think when you mentioned brakes you were talking about that uneven wear in the rotor. I see that now. Thanks for pointing that out. Can't believe I didn't catch that sooner on my own as that is somewhat troubling....

4.3L XJ

As long as that shaft is sealed, it if fine. As noted it is a floating pin design on the top. What this means is that the lower joint is a fixed length. The top joint is really a hemi ball joint, since it only has half a ball that slides up and down. A boot that fits tight to the top of the knuckle is not required as long as it is sealed

2drx4

Interestingly though, Moog does show a boot in the pictures of what I assume is what you bought.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...79996&jsn=1881

Now as to if it actually comes with it or not, I can't say for sure...

2drx4

Yeah, that's what I was getting at. That rotor is likely worn past limits.

Make sure the pads can slide properly, they wear divots into the bracket on the knuckle and it hangs everything up.

HighOnLift

That doesn't look like the same ball joint.... Mine has a rubber boot, but didn't look like it came off nor did it look like the standard roundish looking caps. I pressed them in with the boots on, I hope that was ok.

Someone on a thread said to fill with grease and the boot will extend down, but I really don't think that is going to be the case, and I have heard it's not good to over grease these. Also I was under the impression they were pre-greased/filled. I will for sure double check on that before lowering on it's tires.

At work, or I would post the actual part number. I'll get it up here later for sure!

They look like this though:


But the way those boots are on, I don't think pressing them in like that is an issue... hopefully.

HighOnLift

Thanks for the tip, will be checking all this in a couple of hours.

HighOnLift

To report back, there is no other cap that was to come with these, they are supposed to look like they look. Thank you for everyones help and advice!

HighOnLift

Thank you for this. Can you tell me your opinion of these ball joints? It was really the best I could find on my budget the day I did all this. I need to do the other side and not sure if I should put the moogs on the other side or not?